


A Journey of "Sans"-discovery---Part 1: UnderFell

by Do_Whatever_You_Want_Im_Super_Dead



Series: A Journey of "Sans"-discovery [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-06-25 13:44:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15641949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Do_Whatever_You_Want_Im_Super_Dead/pseuds/Do_Whatever_You_Want_Im_Super_Dead
Summary: Ever since Frisk finished the True Pacifist route and destroyed their ability to reset, Sans hasn't quite felt like himself. He takes a walk in Snowden Forest - and finds a different world! Now he has to get home - before he forgets who he truly is. Multi-AU series.





	1. Destruction of the True Reset

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is Part 1 of a series that I am writing for Undertale. Each part will focus on a different AU, but every AU that appears before each part will be able to visit the new AU that is introduced in each part. I will not do every AU - there's over 700! No way in Hell I'm doing any of that shit!
> 
> So, I'll focus on maybe 10 or so, maybe 20 if I keep up my interest in the series. Each part may or may not be small, but I'm planning on a wider story arc throughout the series, unlike the My Little Avengers crossover series I have written a few years ago.
> 
> Each part may vary in rating, depending on the AU. There will be at least one that will be rated M for sexual content (I'm sure you guys can understand which AU I really look forward to).
> 
> Please enjoy! Don't forget to leave a review to tell me what you think!

 

Sans sighed and looked up at the sunset before him. Papyrus was right; it was beautiful. His seemingly perpetual smile widened slightly for his bro, knowing that Papyrus would be so happy for what time they had before the reset.

On cue, he walked back to the Underground to tell everyone. It didn't take long, and monsters were soon rushing to the surface to behold the sun, which no one had seen for so long. Well, to their memory. Sans…

He still remembered everything. Every reset, every monster's death. Surprisingly, Frisk had not gone genocidal. He was expecting it after all of this time, yet… they never did.

Sans sighed and finally let his smile fall into the first frown he'd had in a long time, even past resets. He couldn't let anyone know about how he truly felt; the only one who knew anything was Toriel, and she had known that small bit since before the resets began. How long ago was that?

_Eh, doesn't matter,_  he thought as he got to Snowden Town, to the house he and Papyrus had moved into so long ago, after the accident…

He shook his head, chasing the thoughts away as he teleported to his monstrosity of a messy room. He just needed to go to sleep and wait till the reset happened. It wasn't even a minute after his head hit the pillow that he fell asleep, murmuring, "papyrus, you want anything?"

When his eyes next opened, he was surprised to see that he was not in his room, but rather in a strange room with two doors. One had a sign over it that said, True Reset, and the other's said, Continue. Frisk and Flowey were both in the room, and Flowey was talking to Frisk.

"Promise that I'll forget everything? That I'll be like… I never met you before?" the flower was asking, looking sad.

Looks like the flower knew about the resets, too. Figures.

Frisk said nothing, and Flowey sighed, saying, "I understand. It's more kindness than I deserve. Just go. I'll be fine."

Frisk held the True Knife in front of them, regarding it with deep thought. Sans drew in a breath. Maybe this would be the time the kid would finally go genocidal? Had Fate brought him here to witness that reset?

Suddenly, Sans was pulled out of his thoughts as the kid raised the True Knife in the air.  _wait, what? would the kid kill the weed before resetting? that would certainly be a good start to a genocide run_ , he thought before the kid did something surprising: they destroyed the True Reset door, surprising both him and the weed.

"Y-you destroyed it," Flowey said in shock, solidifying the situation for them all.

The human nodded with a smile. They then said, "Everyone else is happy. Time to keep that happiness forever, right?"

Sans was genuinely surprised. What about the timeline where everything ends? Did they just… eradicate that possibility? He closed his eyes and looked at the timelines again. It was true; there was no reset anywhere in the future.

Frisk seemed to see Sans and smiled before turning to the Continue door and waving back to Flowey and saying, "Bye, Asriel!" before running outside into the sunlight.

Flowey looked after the kid before smiling and saying, "Bye, Frisk." He then went into the ground, probably to go somewhere else.

Sans stared at the ruined True Reset door for five minutes before leaving through the Continue door. It felt… strange, to be honest. Knowing that he did not have to witness the end of all things, knowing that even the possibility of resets was gone?

He had no idea what to do with himself now.

When he left the strange room, Frisk was waiting for him.

"so… no more resets?" he asked, putting back on his signature smile.

"Yup. No more resets," they replied, smiling in turn.

"heh… guess i was wrong, kiddo; looks like we keep this ending."

"You were so sure you wouldn't?" Frisk looked confused, as if this was their plan the whole time.

"well, yeah," he replied, shrugging. "it's never been otherwise before."

"Looks like you were wrong," they said smugly. "Well, whatcha gonna do now? We got no more resets; whatcha gonna do?"

Sans only shrugged. "dunno. i honestly don't think that i ever considered this at all."

Frisk nodded. "Well, I'm gonna go back to Mom. She's got breakfast ready by now. Wanna come with?"

Sans' eyes widened for a moment, then closed as he sighed and shrugged. "sure, kid. i've never got to try tori's cooking in any timeline."

He followed her back to Toriel's house for a hearty breakfast with a heavy heart and mind. What was he meant to do now?

Weeks passed, but Sans still felt out-of-place. Everyone else was settling in well: Toriel was teaching at Frisk's school and had adopted the kid, Undyne and Alphys were in a relationship and settling in with their careers, Asgore was gardening for the city, and Papyrus was… Papyrus. Mettaton had even begun an acting career with the humans.

And Sans? Well, right now he was back in Snowdin Forest, trying to figure out what to do now that there was no reset to worry about.

He walked through, failing to notice the trees changing around him.


	2. Chapter 2: Seeing Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans has entered the AU of UnderFell, and meets his alternate self, Red. He also meets his brother's alternate self, Edge. Not that he'll be referred to as such at this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, didn't realize I'd take so long with this update... school has just started back up again and my time's been sucked away. That and I've found some amazing Undertale fanfictions and am currently fighting Sans in the game. It's not the best way to fight..... but oh well! Comments are always welcome!
> 
> In any case, I've decided on some AUs I will do for this series and an order!  
> 1\. UnderFell (obviously)  
> 2\. InkTale/ErrorTale  
> 3\. UnderSwap  
> 4\. MusicalTale  
> 5\. UnderLust  
> 6\. GenderSwap  
> 7\. FlowerTale  
> 8\. StoryShift  
> 9\. AfterTale
> 
> I'm thinking maybe adding in DreamTale or something, but Imma do research on everything before I do anything else. After all, I wanna figure out how everyone's gonna interact and all that shit.
> 
> In any case, enjoy!

Sans' first clue that he was no longer at home was a sudden flying red bone right past his skull. His eyes snapped up and his left eye glowed blue and yellow as he looked to the source of the attack: a skeleton who - 

Sans' eyes went black in shock and fear. In front of him was... him. Albeit, this other him looked a bit different. Instead of a blue hoodie, this him wore a black coat with a fur lining. Instead of a white t-shirt, he wore a red turtleneck sweater. He still wore black basketball shorts, but he actually wore tennis shoes instead of pink slippers.

_an alternate me? how's that possible?_ Sans thought.

"yo, who're you, asshole?" the other Sans asked, breaking Sans out of his thoughts and readying another bone attack, sharp red bones poised to strike.

"sans. sans the skeleton," Sans replied, readying a bone attack of his own, his normal white bones ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"that's impossible, since i'm sans," the other him scoffed.

"looks like an impossible day for both of us," Sans remarked, both of the skeletons' eyesockets black as they stood, ready to attack the other in a game of Chicken. Eventually, after a couple hours, they let the bones dissipate, clear to both of them that neither wanted to truly harm the other.

"so... sans, isn't it?" the other him asked, shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

"yeah. what's going on? one minute, i'm walking through snowdin forest, the next i'm fighting another me," Sans replied, shrugging and also shoving his mitten-covered hands in his pockets and looking at his doppelganger.

"welp, guess i'd better take you to my place. trust me, this place is probably a lot more dangerous than where you came from, if the way you're dressed has anything to say about it," the other him offered, turning around and ready to walk off.

Sans quickly started following the slightly larger skeleton (he hadn't noticed the height difference in the fight, but now that they were closer, he finally noticed), keeping an eyesocket out for anything that could possibly be a threat on his life. No one came out to try to kill him, but Sans kept himself ready for a potential battle, and the two Sanses soon reached Snowdin Town. Everything seemed to be mostly the same except that no one was friendly to anyone - most especially this darker version of himself. The two skeletons soon reached the other Sans' house, and they both quickly went inside before putting the door between themselves and the other monsters.

"well, at least no one tried to kill you, and my brother is out on patrol," the other Sans remarked. "just make yourself at home. there's spaghetti in the fridge if you're hungry, and my room is open to ya... not that there's much in there due to my bro being a total asshole."

"thanks," Sans replied, plopping down on the couch and sighing in slight relief. "to be honest, i thought that i'd be dusted any moment out there."

"trust me, in this world, it's KILL or BE KILLED, so i'd suggest getting some LOVE before you  _are_ killed. especially since you don't have any."

"heh, figures. i'm just gonna try to avoid anyone until i figure out how to get back home," Sans said with a shrug, "because this place is clearly not home."

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and a tall skeleton in black armor, a red scarf, the same pointed teeth as the other Sans, and resembled Papyrus barged into the house.

"SANS! WHY AREN'T YOU AT YOUR STATION?!" the skeleton yelled at the other Sans before suddenly noticing Sans on the couch. "AND WHO THE HELL DID YOU BRING INTO OUR HOUSE?!"

"sup?" Sans greeted. "i'm a different sans. don't ask me why i'm in this place instead of my own house, cause i don't know."

The other Sans groaned and facepalmed. "so much for avoiding everyone, huh?" he commented to Sans, to which Sans only gave a shrug.

"eh, i probably don't have the  _guts_ to do it anyways," Sans joked before chuckling at his own pun, which caused the other Sans to chuckle, too. Predictably, the taller skeleton groaned aloud.

"YOU'RE SANS, ALL RIGHT," the skeleton said, letting a long hand slide down his face. "I'M THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS!" he introduced himself, placing a hand on his chest much like Sans' Papyrus would when talking about himself. "UGH, IT'S GOING TO BE CONFUSING TO HAVE TWO SANSES HERE."

Sans was still slightly reeling over the fact that there was a world with a different Sans and Papyrus, and missed the last comment.

"how about calling me 'red', boss?" the other Sans suggested. "he can be blue because of his hoodie."

"SO YOU DO HAVE AN INTELLIGENT BRAIN IN THAT WORTHLESS HEAD OF YOURS," Papyrus said, smiling as he noogied the other Sans - er, Red. "WELL, SINCE BLUE IS CLEARLY NEW HERE, IT WOULD BE BEST IF HE STAYS WITH US. AFTER ALL, EVERY MONSTER IN THE UNDERGROUND WILL WANT TO KILL HIM."

"wait, what? are you serious right now?" Sans asked, extremely concerned.

Papyrus sighed, facepalming again. "I THINK YOUR OTHER SELF WOULD BETTER TELL YOU THAN I. I'M GOING TO MAKE DINNER. PLEASE TRY NOT TO DESTROY THE LIVING ROOM."

Papyrus left the room, leaving the two short skeletons on their own with their much-needed-to-answer question hanging over them.


	3. Explanations Galore!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red explains the basic premise of his own world, and Ink Sans crashes in! Looks like there's some anomalies to take care of before Error arrives....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to post this chapter! I know that those of you who liked the first two chapters wanted more, and I've just been so busy with school that I forgot!
> 
> Well, I've decided to add in DreamTale and NightmareTale early on, and this will prove very very interesting as we go on. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Red and Sans looked at each other, then went to the couch and sat down, sinking into the old fabric. Sans looked at Red, asking, “what does he mean, everyone’s gonna want to kill me?”

Red sighed. “i don’t know what it’s like where you’re from, but here, it’s kill or be killed. by law. the only reason i’m not dead yet is because of boss.”

“is that what you call your papyrus?” Sans asked.

“yeah. i’ve got a lv of 3, and boss is a 5. he’s really tough, but you’d have to be to be head of the royal guard,” Red explained.

Sans shuddered, remembering his LV 1 and his 1 HP. “uh… do you have 1 hp?”

“nope. 3. not much more, but it’s better than 1. what, is that yours?” Red joked, but stopped chuckling when he saw Sans’ frown. “oh… it is. stars… really glad i found you first, right?”

Sans sighed. “probably got really lucky. my question is… how did i get here? my underground wasn’t this way.”

Red shrugged. “we can go to the workshop after boss tries to train ya in the morning. we can do some research that’s much-needed if we’re gonna get you home before you’re dusted.”

Sans nodded. “yeah… wouldn’t want the kid to reset because i’m gone.”

Red’s eyelights went wide. “you know about resets?”

“yeah. they were a thing back in my underground, too. although… my human destroyed their ability to reset,” Sans explained.

Red snorted. “yeah… our human’s still walking around the underground. they ain’t killin’, so let’s see how long they last, heh.”

Sans smiled at that comment, but before he could say anything, Papyrus came in.

“DINNER IS READY, YOU LAZYBONES-ES!” he called out, a shredded chef’s hat on his skull.

The two shorter skeletons smiled and walked over to “eat” Papyrus’ spaghetti.

After dinner, Papyrus paced the living room floor in thought. “WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU WILL STAY IN THIS HOUSE WHILE YOU ARE HERE,” he mused, referring to Sans. “I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU IN MY ROOM… AND ALTHOUGH I’M SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ON THE COUCH, I WILL NOT ALLOW A GUEST TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH! NOR WILL I PUT YOU IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER; THAT’S FOR IF THE HUMAN COMES BACK!”

“he could stay in my room,” Red suggested. “i mean, it can’t be any worse than what he has back home.”

Papyrus mused for a moment, and Sans piped up, “he’s got a point. i mean, he’s just a different version of me. how different could his room be?”

Papyrus nodded, his mind made up. “ALL RIGHT. BLUE WILL STAY IN YOUR ROOM, RED. I WILL GO DOWN TO THE DUMP IN WATERFALL AND BE BACK SHORTLY WITH A SPARE MATTRESS.” He went to the door and turned around before opening it, saying, “TRY NOT TO GET YOURSELVES DUSTED WHILE I’M GONE.”

The two nodded, and Red said, “cross my soul, boss. neither of us are getting dusted tonight. we don’t want you to have to clean this place up when you get back, heh.”

Papyrus groaned, but left anyway, grumbling as he closed the door and locked it.

Red turned to Sans and said, “well, wanna see my room? i mean, it’s gonna be your home-away-from-home while you’re stuck here.”

Sans nodded, saying, “can’t be worse than the threat of being dusted.”

The two went upstairs and got into Red’s room. It was still messy, with a trash tornado and a pile of socks, but otherwise was bare save for a mattress and a pile of blankets.

Sans whistled, saying, “wow… pretty minimalistic.”

Red grumbled, “boss doesn’t like me having a messy room… so this is my punishment for it.”

Sans shuddered. “you think he’s gonna treat me the same way?”

“i mean, you’re a different me, so i dunno. i hope not. you don’t have any lv, so you wouldn’t really survive anything he’d throw at you,” Red replied, not very reassuringly.

Suddenly, a crash came from the main floor, and both skeletons ran to the rail of the upper floor to see what was going on. A skeleton that looked like the Sanses but wore brown clothes, a sash with different-colored vials, and boots, and held a giant paintbrush. After a moment, Papyrus came in, and he nearly dropped the mattress and blanket he had brought back with him.

“OH MY GOD, THERE’S ANOTHER ONE?!” he asked with exasperation.

The skeleton looked around and groaned. “oh no, not again… i can’t believe that i had to drop in this au instead of a more pleasant one…”

Red’s left eye flared, and he brought up a slew of sharp-tipped bones around the other skeleton, who then looked up at him with two differently-colored and -shaped eyelights. Ink’s left eye also glowed slightly, and a glob of… was that ink?... deflected the bones.

“i wouldn’t suggest attacking me, fell,” the skeleton warned him. “you wouldn’t want to have a bad time, would you?”

Papyrus, while still bewildered, smiled brightly and said, “I LIKE THIS ONE. CAN WE KEEP HIM?”

Red growled, saying, “no, paps. we don’t even have a nickname for him.”

“my name’s ink,” the skeleton introduced himself, noticing that Sans was there, as well. “no… no no no no…. you’re not supposed to be here!”

Sans raised an eyebrow ridge. “don’t you think i already know that? i don’t know how i got here in the first place anyway. i was just walking in snowdin forest and somehow i ended up here.”

Ink facepalmed and said, “well, i’m stuck here for the night while i recover my strength. uh… you’re papyrus, right?” he asked Papyrus.

Papyrus smiled, putting down the mattress to pose, one hand on his chest and the other posed on his hip. “I AM! I AM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS! I’M SO HAPPY YOU’VE HEARD OF ME!”

Ink chuckled, then said, “well, i have to know every sans and papyrus in the multiverse. i actually was looking for an anomaly and was hoping to fix it before error gets to them first.”

“error?” Sans asked as he and Red walked downstairs.

“he’s kind of like me, but different,” Ink tried to explain. “anyway, one of the aus had an anomaly, and i was hoping to find them first. but it looks like i kind of found it.”

“what do you mean?” Red asked. “this guy ending up in snowdin forest while i was on watch?”

“well, the anomaly was actually different, but this is just as important,” Ink said as Papyrus, not understanding what was going on, took the mattress up to Red’s room. “the other anomaly had to do with resets.”

“wait a minute,” Sans interrupted. “in my universe, my human destroyed ability to reset. is that it?”

Ink’s eyes lit up and changed shapes. “yes! that’s the anomaly exactly! we need to get you to your universe right away and restore that ability! otherwise, error might try to destroy your universe, sans!”

He tried to do something with his brush, but Sans stopped him with a gentle but firm hand on his back. “hey, take it easy. didn’t you say you needed to rest?”

Ink stopped, sighing. “yeah, you’re right… i have to wait until morning to get anything done.” He looked between the two Sanses. “you guys think i can rest here for the night?”

Papyrus was the one to answer the question. “OF COURSE YOU CAN STAY HERE! RED AND BLUE CAN SHARE THEIR ROOM WITH YOU UNTIL YOU AND BLUE CAN LEAVE IN THE MORNING!” He was on the top of the staircase, a pointy-toothed smile on his face.

“wow, thanks! that means a lot!” Ink replied, a smile on his face.

The Sanses went up to Red’s room, and Ink said, “well, i didn’t expect your nickname to be blue, as that’s swap sans’ nickname. i thought you’d just be sans cause you’re the original,” referring to Sans.

“really? well, in our defense, we didn’t really know about other… what did you call them?” Sans asked.

“aus. each one is different, but they all have a basis in your universe, sans,” Ink explained. “this one’s called underfell, and this guy’s called fell or red between us traveling sanses.”

“traveling sanses?” Red asked, curious.

“sanses without a universe, like me,” Ink explained. “error’s another, and there’s a couple more. of course, there are sanses that travel through aus that have their own aus, but that’s because of something different in their universe that allows them to travel like they do, like dream and nightmare.”

“named because they bring dreams or nightmares?” Sans asked.

“basically. it’s a little more complicated than that,” Ink said.

By then, they were in Red’s room, and all three were sitting on the mattresses and had the lights off, only their eyelights and Ink’s colored vials lighting up the darkness.

“so what’re those rainbow colors?” Red asked, referring to the vials.

“they’re my emotions,” Ink started, but Sans interrupted.

“hey, i’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to bottle up your emotions, ink,” he joked, letting out a little “heh” while Red guffawed.

Ink glared at Red, shutting him up. “okay, since you guys don’t know, i might as well tell you. i’m soulless. my au was unfinished, abandoned, and i sacrificed my soul to escape it. ever since, i haven’t had a soul or emotions – until i found these colors. each one gives me a different emotion, and i make a mix of them to go about with at least the illusion of emotions every day.”

The other two Sanses whistled before Sans said, “well, in any case, we better sleep. we’re gonna need it.”

The other two agreed, and they fell asleep on the mattresses, windows locked and boarded up for protection.


	4. Dreams, Nightmares, and Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans has the usual nightmare of the Genocide run... or does he? The added presences of Dream and Nightmare make for an interesting turn of events. What could they want? 
> 
> Also, Sans and Ink finally leave Underfell! But do they arrive back in Undertale?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning on this section being longer chapter-wise, but I think this is the most I can squeeze out of Underfell. I will say that the next part will also have Frisk-centric chapters as our original Eighth Fallen Human begins her journey to bring Sans home.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 4

When Sans fell asleep, he opened his eyes in the dream to a golden hallway with stained-glass windows facing outside. Sans took a deep breath. He had had this dream about a thousand times before, ever since the RESETs began with the damn flower. At the end of the hall, though, something was different.

Well, both ends of the hall.

On the end where the demon child would usually be, there was yet another version of Sans, but this one dripping with black ichor and having four equally-dripping tentacles coming from his back. His clothes were also covered with the ichor, although they seemed similar to Sans’ underneath all the ichor. On the other end, where the other exit was, there was another version of him, but he was wearing a light blue shirt with a single white stripe down the middle, some blue pants with boots similar to Papyrus’, a gold cape fastened with a star-shaped brooch, orange fingerless gloves, a golden circlet with two swirls in the middle of his forehead, and a blue staff with a golden star on the end facing away from Sans.

“brother, stay away from him!” the lighter Sans called out, and Sans had the idea that this guy was not talking to him, but rather the dark Sans on the other end.

“oh, come on, dream!” the darker Sans called out, sending out a tentacle that barely missed Sans and went for the lighter Sans – Dream, he had called him – and was countered by a swing of the star-staff. “this is my domain!”

Just then, the demon child came through the door and seemed to go _through_ the darker Sans, smiling like it always did.

Sans decided to ignore the two Sans-es fighting each other, and focused on the demon child. “heya. you’ve been busy, huh?” he asked, like he always did. Like always, the demon didn’t say anything, only smiled a big red smile. “heh heh heh heh… so, i’ve got a question for ya. do you think even the worst person can change? that everybody can be a good person, if they just try?”

The demon took a step forward, gripping the Real Knife in their hand, the Locket glinting in the sunlight.

“all right, well, here’s a better question. do you want to have a bad time?” Sans asked, his eyelights going out. “cause if you take another step forward, you are REALLY not going to like what happens next.”

The demon’s smile only grew, and it took one final step forward, ready for the challenge that Sans would give it.

“welp. sorry, old lady. this is why i never make promises.” Sans pulled the demon’s SOUL out, and the darker Sans smiled at the sight.

“you see, dream? you have no place in this domain. T h i s   d o m a i n   b e l o n g s   t o   m e.” the darker Sans warned Dream, his eyelights also going dark, and it almost threw Sans off his timing.

“it’s a beautiful day outside,” Sans began. “birds are singing, flowers are blooming. on days like these, kids like you…” His eyelights went dark, and his voice became dangerously distorted as he finished, “S h o u l d   b e   b u r n i n g   i n   H e l l .”

He began his attacks almost immediately, throwing the SOUL down and around, then summoning Gaster blasters to blast at the demon’s SOUL. The grueling battle commenced, and he couldn’t help but notice in the corner of his eyesocket how the darker Sans watched the battle with an interest he didn’t expect, and how Dream watched with worry.

Sans only chuckled. He knew how this dream ended – how it always ended. And eventually, it did – with a slash across his chest of the Knife. He looked to his bleeding wound, then back to the demon.

“so… guess that’s it, huh? just don’t say i didn’t warn you.” He stood up, and shrugged. “welp, i’m going to grillby’s.” He shuffled off, the pain in the dream so realistic that he had to keep himself from falling to his knees the whole time. “papyrus, do you want anything?” he asked.

Before he could turn to dust and wake up with his normal amount of screaming and glowing left eyelight, however, he felt a slimy hand on his shoulder, and a tentacle swiping its way across the wound in his chest, healing it and sealing it with the ichor. He looked up and saw the darker Sans standing in front of him, smiling.

“y-you healed me,” Sans stammered, noticing that the Judgement Hall fell away like dust – like his dust would’ve. “who are you?”

“i’m nightmare,” the darker Sans introduced himself. “i got here because you were out of the protection of the RESET loops.”

“protection? those reset loops were a living nightmare to me!” Sans protested.

Nightmare shook his head. “that’s where you’re wrong, sans. you see, ever since your RESET loops began with the eighth fallen human, no traveling sans has been able to come into your world, my brother and myself included.”

Sans looked over at where Dream was fighting to get to him, but Nightmare’s tentacles kept him at bay. Sans looked back at Nightmare. “so why are you so interested in me?”

“i’m drawn by negative emotions,” Nightmare explained, “and i gain more power from them. you have, perhaps, of every sans in every au, the most of every kind of emotion there could be in the multiverse. and, of course, being cut off from the rest of the multiverse for so long has brought about a lot of interest in your world, especially since it seems to be the mold on which every other au is based off of. in short, you’re the original.”

Sans thought about this, then said, “i just wanna go home. paps is gonna be worried about me, and so’s the kid.”

Nightmare chuckled. “i was actually going to ask… how did your world break free of the RESET loops that the child caused?”

Sans shrugged. “the kid destroyed their ability to RESET. they can’t reset anymore. i’m a little surprised myself; i was fully expecting them to look for what happened if they became… well… that demon child,” he said, referring to his opponent in the nightmare. “but they never did. they came close in so many timelines, but they never did. it’s strange, but i ain’t complainin.”

Nightmare regarded Sans carefully. “and yet you still have that scar across your chest. you know…” he leaned in to whisper, “that would only be there if they did go down that path. it did happen, sans… you simply forgot.”

Dream saw what was going on and screamed out, “sans! don’t listen to him! please!”

Nightmare slung a tentacle around Dream, winding it up and throwing Dream far from the pair who were talking. “as i was saying, it did happen… and now the RESET loops are done. you’re free to explore the multiverse if you wanted to. you’re free to do things… however you want. i’m sure there’s something you wish to try.”

Sans shrugged. “nope. i gave up my hopes and dreams a long time ago. there’s nothing left for me now.”

Nightmare chuckled. “i think otherwise. besides… if you don’t have hopes and dreams anymore… why would my brother be trying to get your attention?” He chuckled darkly. “just think about it, sans. we’ll talk more in the future.”

And just as suddenly as the dream started, Sans woke up in the double mattress bed, breathing heavily, his left eyelight glowing blue and yellow just like every other time he had a nightmare about the Genocide run.

Was Nightmare right? Did the kid actually do this? But why didn’t he remember, then? And what was up with two alternate selves visiting his dreams?

Just a moment later, Red woke up in much the same way Sans did, but his left eyelight was a bright red. Ink woke up rather peacefully, which Sans found strange.

“good morning, guys,” he said rather flatly, as if trying to say something without any emotion at all. He took a few of the vials and a small bowl before pouring drops of each of those vials into the bowl to mix before drinking it. After that, he seemed more friendly. “sorry bout that. emotions must’ve run out overnight.”

“eh, it’s okay, ink,” Red assured him, rubbing his eyesockets and his eyelights turning back to normal. “come on, boss’ll be waiting downstairs with breakfast.”

Sans rubbed his eyelights, too, and as he got up and brushed over his shirt, he couldn’t help but notice something sticky under his shirt on his bones. “eh, i’ll catch up with you guys downstairs. i gotta check something out first.”

Ink looked at Sans with concern, but Red just shrugged. “fine with me. just don’t be too late; boss’ll have your ass if you’re too late.”

“heh, gotcha, red,” Sans reassured him.

Red and Ink left the room, and Sans lifted up his shirt to find that covering the scar was a line of black ichor – a mark from Nightmare. A shiver went down his spine, and he quickly made a note to himself to ask Red’s Papyrus about taking a shower before he left with Ink.

He got down to the breakfast table, and Papyrus smiled at him. “WELL, AT LEAST YOU’RE NOT LATE, SANS. COME ON BEFORE BREAKFAST GETS COLD.”

Sans smiled and sat down to eat, saying, “thanks, paps. hey, i was wondering if there’s a shower here and – more importantly – if it’s okay for me to use it before we leave.”

Papyrus practically beamed. “OF COURSE! I’M SO HAPPY YOU ARE PRACTICING SELF-CARE – AT LEAST, YOU’RE BETTER THAN MY SANS.”

Red let out a shout of protest, but Papyrus glared at him to shut him up before turning back to Sans. “THE SHOWER IS UPSTAIRS BETWEEN OUR ROOMS, SANS. BUT EAT YOUR BREAKFAST FIRST. I WORKED VERY HARD ON IT, NYEH HEH HEH!”

Sans smiled up at him. This Papyrus may have been a serious edgelord, but he was just as cool as his own Papyrus. Sans ate his breakfast (not that bad – this Papyrus may have still been bad at cooking, but it was still pretty good) and went to take his shower. After that shower, he found his clothes clean and folded with a note on them: “I DECIDED TO TAKE THE LIBERTY OF WASHING YOUR CLOTHING SINCE YOU HAVE NO CHANGE OF CLOTHES. YOU ARE WELCOME. NYEH HEH HEH, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS.”

Sans smiled and got his clothes on. This Papyrus was just as good at laundry as his own, and he found himself feeling homesick.

He needed to get back – fast.

He went downstairs to see Ink ready to go.

“you ready, sans?” Ink asked, giant paintbrush at the ready.

“yep. ready as i’ll ever be,” Sans replied, smiling and lazily putting his hands in his pockets as he stood by the colorful skeleton. “bye, red. bye, papyrus. thanks again for keeping me the night,” he said to the skelebros near the kitchen.

“GOODBYE, SANS! COME AGAIN SOMETIME IF YOU ARE ABLE TO!” Papyrus said, and Sans could almost swear he could see traces of his own brother’s kindness in that smile.

“later, loser,” Red said, waving goodbye.

Ink gave a swipe of his brush, enveloping the two skeletons in an inky ball before being thrust into a place that looked like Snowdin, but something seemed… off.

“oh, no, i messed up again!” Ink exclaimed, facepalming. “why is this happening to me?”


End file.
